The Mozilla Foundation, developer of the Firefox Web browser, plans to announce Wednesday that it has created a for-profit subsidiary to pursue wider potential for the software. Since it was introduced in November of last year, Firefox has steadily gained market share in competition with Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer. Some industry analysts estimate that Firefox is used by as many as 10 percent of all those online. The Mozilla Foundation says more than 75 million copies have been downloaded. Security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer have been blamed in part for an explosion of viruses and spyware, prompting some computer users to abandon it. Foundation executives say they want to help Firefox gain greater use. That will require offering service and support at a fee, which are beyond the scope of the original nonprofit organization, they say. Mitchell Baker, a former Netscape lawyer who has led the Mozilla Foundation, will be chief executive of the new entity, the Mozilla Corporation. She said in a telephone interview on Monday that while the new corporation would be taxable, its aim was not shareholder returns but furthering the goals of the foundation. The organization was established in June 2003 to promote the open source software movement's creation of a competitive Web browser. "Our fundamental goal is promoting an open Internet," she said. At the same time, she added, "We could not ignore the fact that Firefox has become a valuable asset." Most of the roughly 40 employees of the Mozilla Foundation will shift to the corporation, but the operations of the Mozilla project, which develops Firefox, will be unchanged. It is working on Version 1.5 of Firefox, scheduled for release this fall. One issue the new structure may raise is whether it will alienate Firefox loyalists and volunteers who helped create the software. The corporation will not consider a public stock offering, Baker said. Source: News.com
